<strong><span class="subhead">Kansas coal plant</span></strong></p><p>I was amazed to see that Kansas intends to build another coal-fired power plant (5/5, A-1). Certainly, one coal plant, along with some wind energy development, is better than two &#8212; but given our present circumstance we should not be building any coal plants.</p><p>The article framed the dispute as an argument between utility executives and environmentalists, but in reality Sunflower Electric executives are at odds with the scientific community.</p><p>Articles in the current issue of the prestigious journal &#8220;Nature&#8221; conclude that the world must reduce CO2 emissions by 80 percent by 2050 to avoid dangerous amounts of warming (greater than two degrees centigrade).</p><p>The MIT Joint Program recently issued a report projecting a 5.1 degree centigrade average temperature rise by 2100 as the most likely outcome if we continue with a policy of business as usual.</p><p>An increase of five degrees may not sound like much, but consider that the Earth was about five degrees cooler about 11,000 years ago, when the Earth was in an ice age.</p><p>Going five degrees warmer likely means we could have arid scrub land up to the Canadian border, which means a lot less food and many fewer people.</p><p><p align="right"><strong>David Anderson</strong></p> <p align="right"><em>Kansas City</em></p> Kansas Gov. Mark Parkinson said, &#8220;If I could just pick one thing, what I would hope to do is to put us on a path so we are the renewable energy leader in this country,&#8221; (5/3, Local). In the 5/5 Star we read that Parkinson has agreed to Sunflower Electric&#8217;s construction of an 895- megawatt coal plant in Holcomb, Kan., which will emit 6.67 million tons of CO2 a year, plus some new provisions for wind turbines and energy efficiency. It is hard to understand the logic between Parkinson&#8217;s statement and his action.</p><p>Scientists say climate change is far worse than they previously thought and we have little time to get emissions down. Allowing almost 7 million tons of CO2 to be emitted per year is going in the wrong direction and will not make us the renewable energy leader in this country.</p><p><p align="right"><strong>Mary Helen Korbelik</strong></p> <p align="right"><em>Mission Hills</em></p> <strong><span class="subhead">We can switch to electric cars</span></strong></p><p>Electric cars can save Detroit (5/5, Local), but it needs to be done on a massive scale and not piecemeal.</p><p>Dump most of the current models in favor of electric family cars with a universal battery that can be easily removed and replaced. Gas stations can be converted to quick-change battery stations, so when power runs low, a person need only make a quick stop for a fully charged one and keep rolling. The battery companies can compete in developing a better and longer lasting battery.</p><p>Ethanol and hydrogen are too corrosive to ship through the old fuel pipeline system, but we already have an electrical infrastructure in place. A car need not be limited to 40 miles or an emergency generator for when power runs low.</p><p>When cars started to show up on the landscape, replacing the horse and wagon, drivers had to search far and wide to find a gas station. Despite that, the horse and wagon were finally replaced. The time has come to replace the gas stations with battery stations and the gas car with electric. We have the technology now. Let&#8217;s use it.</p><p><p align="right"><strong>George R. McCasland</strong></p> <p align="right"><em>Overland Park</em></p> <strong><span class="subhead">Tolls for highway work</span></strong></p><p>The idea of a toll road on I-70 from Kansas City to Independence has merit (5/6, A-1, &#8220;Tolls for highway work: Easier pill to swallow?&#8221;).</p><p>We need to consider the idea of a toll road from Kansas City to St. Louis to fund the reconstruction of I-70. Voters have twice turned down the idea of toll roads in Missouri. However, the proposal on the ballot never indicated where a toll road might be. If the proposition specifically indicated I-70, I believe it would pass.